Andy,Should have been there man. The water was great. I think everyone would say a smaller and shorter rudder is the way to go because it's less drag. I feel that a wider rudder might sometimes be better than having to use trim tabs. I also think if your boat requires say 1/4th inch of left rudder to make the boat track straight. then a 1/4 inch rudder width with the right side of the blade parallel to the keel is better than a 1/8th thick blade that leaves a vapor trail on the right side of the rudder. And since the amount of rudder has a great deal with keeping the prop from dragging the transom to the left, it takes a certain amount of rudder to keep the boat tracking straight. What I try to keep in mind is that without a rudder the boat would do a big right hand turn. How much rudder you add to that equasion will directly affect how much control you have in keeping the boat in a straight line going down the straightaway.
So, in the last hour we have talked about rudder location as far as distance from the transom and how it trips the boat into pushing the bow down or lets the bow fly free, Thickness, rounding the bottom, position in relation to prop, How it can be a trim tab, How making travel less sensitive can prevent non linear turning, and how different setups work on different boats. That's pretty good. A lot of good input. There is also shape of rudder, pivot point, kicking it back vs tucking it in, tilting it to the right, and distance from the keel to the chine line. Who would have thought so much could be controlled by a simple rudder or combination of rudders.